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1996 UAFA Avalonian Cup
The 1996 UAFA Avalonian Cup final tournament was held in Salem. It was the first continental men's senior national football team tournament in the history of Avalonia and UAFA. That said, it was also the first edition of the UAFA Avalonian Cup, which is held every two years and endorsed by UAFA. Salem won the final, 2-0, against Morris for their first title. Host Country Selection Process During the meeting in 1994 between the seven nations' rulers that was the founding of the Union of Avalonian Football Associations, King Yosef I, the king of Salem, volunteered to host the first continental competition, once all of the football federations were prepared to take part in the competition. Summary Group Stage During the group stage, each team played the other six teams once for a total of six matches. The top four teams after the group stage moved onto the knockout stage and the semi-finals. The hosts, Salem, started the tournament off with a bang by defeating Monmouth, 3-0. The Oaks were led by Jayden Turner's brace and another goal by Elliot Murray. Salem was able to grab the biggest win of the tournament during Matchday 3 after Elliot Murray was able to get a hat trick against Union. Morris was able to match Salem's scoreline of 4-0 during Matchday 6, after defeating Monmouth, 4-0, as well. Salem and Morris ended the group stage in first and second place, after both teams went undefeated in six games. Somerset and Union both snuck into the knockout stage with 8 and 7 points in the group stage, respectively. Semi-Finals The first semi-finals, featuring a rematch between Salem and Union, resulted in another multi-goal victory over Union with a 3-0 scoreline. Elliot Murray was able to get his second multi-goal game during the tournament with a brace. During the second semi-finals, between Morris and Somerset, Morris was able to move onto the finals after a 104th-minute goal in added extra time by Jamie Foster that gave Morris a 2-1 victory. Third Place Match In the match for the bronze medal, Union was able to grab the first piece of silverware in Avalonian history by defeating Somerset in a high-scoring game, 4-2. Fernand Lecerf of Somerset was able to get the goal-scoring going in the 9th minute, with a looping header after a corner found the bottom right corner of the goal. Lecerf was able to score shortly after his first goal, when he scored his second in the 12th minute. However, the Unionians were able to get back on top after three goals to round off the first half. Union was able to grab a fourth in the late stages of the second half to knock off Somerset for the third place medal. Finals In the final match of the tournament, Salem and Morris went at it for the right to call themselves the first winner of the UAFA Avalonian Cup. The Salemi were able to gain that right by defeating the Morricians, 2-0, led by Elliot Murray's third multi-goal game of the tournament. With the two goals, Murray was able to clinch the Golden Boot of the tournament, as well as the first piece of silverware in the history of the Salem men's national football team. The first goal occurred in the 23rd minute, after Murray was able to capitalize off of a mistake by the Morrician goalkeeper. The second happened during the 74th minute after Murray was able to get his head on the ball off of a corner. Group Stage The teams finishing in the top four positions in the group stage progress to the semi-finals, while the bottom three teams in the group were eliminated from the tournament. Tiebreakers If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking: # Superior goal difference in all group matches; # Higher number of goals scored in all group matches; # Higher number of goals scored away from home in all group matches; # Drawing of lots. | Matchday 2 |- | Matchday 3 | Matchday 4 |- | Matchday 5 | Matchday 6 |- | Matchday 7 |} Knockout Stage The knockout stage was a single-elimination tournament with each round eliminating the losers. Any game that was undecided by the end of the regular 90 minutes, was followed by up to thirty minutes of extra time. If no goal was scored that would break the tie, there would be a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. Bracket